1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for selecting in an on-screen menu, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for selecting in an on-screen menu, by which the menu selection time is shortened.
2. Related Art
In a conventional on-screen menu selection method, the speed of an on-screen pointer which moves between icons of the same level is kept consistent with, that is, the same as, that of an on-screen pointer which moves between icons of different levels, thereby selecting a desired menu screen.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for selecting in an on-screen menu.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method in which the menu selection is more efficient.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method in which the menu selecting time is shortened.
To achieve these objectives, the present invention provides an on-screen menu selecting method in which the menu selection time is shortened by making the speed of movement of a pointer between icons of different levels faster than that of movement of the pointer between icons of the same level. Here, the on-screen menu is displayed at multiple levels.
The on-screen menu selecting method further includes a first determination step of determining the direction in which the pointer is moving; a second determination step of determining whether there is a menu that is displayed in the direction determined in the first determination step; and a step of controlling the pointer to move fast in the determined direction, if it is determined in the second determination step that a menu is displayed.
In the first determination step, the direction in which a pointer is moving is determined by calculating a predetermined direction angle on the basis of the direction of movement, determined from the change in coordinate values, of a current placed pointer, and the predetermined direction angle is xc2x160xc2x0.
To achieve the objectives, the present invention also provides an on-screen menu selecting apparatus including: a key operation unit having a remote controller and a key operator of a panel, particularly, having an on-screen pointer movement key for moving an on-screen pointer; an on-screen menu generator for generating an on-screen menu; an on-screen pointer moving unit for moving the on-screen pointer in response to the movement of the on-screen pointer movement key; an on-screen pointer speed controller for controlling the speed of movement of the on-screen pointer between icons, according to a predetermined control signal; and a controller for receiving a signal from the key operation unit, and controlling the on-screen menu generator to generate the on-screen menu, controlling the on-screen pointer moving unit to move the on-screen pointer, and particularly controlling the speed of movement of the on-screen pointer between icons of different levels to be faster than an initially-set speed.
The controller determines the direction in which the pointer is to be moved, determines whether a menu has been displayed in the determined direction, and controls the pointer to move fast in the determined direction if it is determined in the second determination step that a menu has been displayed. The controller determines the direction of movement of the pointer by calculating a predetermined direction angle on the basis of the coordinate value of the pointer located at present.